Friday, August 15, 2008

Observational Humor, Olympic Edition

Rough transcript of an actual conversation I had with a friend/co-worker last night:

HIM: So have you heard about the big controversy over China's gymnasts yet? They're taking shots at them, saying that they've faked their birth certificates and they're not really sixteen.

ME: No, I've missed most of the Olympics so far. So are they supposed to be secretly younger, or secretly older?

HIM: Younger. The idea is that hitting puberty changes their bodies, and that a lot of gymnasts never recover from that.

ME: Gotcha. So sixteen is the "age of consent" for gymnasts...

HIM: Right.

ME: And they're worried China might be engaging in a little "statutory gymnastics"?

HIM: Yeah--

ME: So do you suppose the gymnastics coaches keep track of the minimum age to enter different competitions, and they're all like, "Oh, sure, for the Olympics it's sixteen, but I hear there's a competition in Canada where she only has to be thirteen..."?

HIM: Uh-huh, yeah--

ME: And they've got up posters of their favorite gymnasts, with little calendars marking off the number of days left until they turn sixteen and they can coach them legally?

HIM: Yes, yes--

ME: And 'Dateline NBC' has this segment where they get people to enter chat rooms, posing as underage gymnasts, and then when the coach goes to their house, they've got cameras and the International Olympic Committee there waiting for them.

HIM: Done now?

ME: Yeah, I don't think I can top that last one.

(Addendum: Tonight, he mentioned that China's now being asked to provide more evidence of the gymnasts' ages. I said China was going to be all like, "No, really, she told me she was eighteen!")

4 comments:

magidin said...

LQTM....

Kate Holden said...

I find that extra funny since we brits have entered a fourteen year old boy into the diving. Odd how it's not okay for gymnastics, but it's fine for diving!

magidin said...

It used to be okay for gymnastics; they changed the rules only recently, and rather deliberately.

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